If you happen to be a "nice" traveler, Monarch Airlines will reward you with a free seat upgrade which includes priority check-in and extra leg room valuing at £50 if you book their service through phone. About a maximum of 10 upgrades per week will be given to passengers who are friendly, amidst an estimated of 120,000 individuals who fly with the carrier.
The initiative came when Monarch decided to embark on a year-long venture "to promote traditional values of chivalry, courtesy, and respect." According to The Telegraph, the company was inspired to do random acts of kindness due to a research that was done by Goldsmith University after linking success with being nice.
Professor Jonathan Freeman at Goldsmith said that Monarch employees are, indeed, friendly after conducting tests that show the company scoring higher on emotional intelligence assessments. Agreeableness and empathy are among the top qualities found they also scored higher.
Monarch CEO Nils Christy told reporters, "Our customer services staff are already nice - now they can reward those who are positively nice to them, too. Everyone benefits from niceness." He also mentioned that being nice results to planes departing earlier. Airline personnel and customers are much happier, too.
Priority check-ins with Monarch usually cost £3 while extra leg room is priced around £20 or £30. Online transactions or those businesses dealt through travel agents will be denied of the said reward.
Meanwhile, phone transactions sometimes reach up to £7.50 more than the usual online web booking. With the new initiative, passengers might get lower prices or extra freebies to make their trip quite enjoyable, if only they could be nice to phone agents of Monarch.
Last year, the company secured a last-minute extension of their license by the Civil Aviation Authority a couple of hours just before the old license will expire. Monarch Airlines announced then that it would have its "largest investment in its 48-year history."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
